2015 AUDI A3 ECU

212 Checking and Filling
- When you close the engine hood, check it
to make sure the safety catch has proper­
ly engaged. The hood should be flush
with the surrounding vehicle body parts.
Engine compartment overview
The most important check points.
- If you notice while driv ing that the hood
is not secured properly, stop at once and
close it.
Fig. 149 Typ ica l locat ion of the reservoir, en g in e oil d ipstick, and engine o il filler opening
(D Coolant expansion tank (- L) .. .
@ Engine oi l dipstick ... .... .. . .
® Engine oil filler opening (~) .
@ Brake fluid reservo ir ((0)) .. .. .
® Battery(+) under a cover .. .. .
@ Body ground point(-)
0 Washer f luid reservoir (~) ... .
@ Fuse housing ....... .... ... .
2 17
215
215
219
221
224
255
The engine oil filler opening and the dipstick (items ® and @)
c::> fig. 149 may be located in
a different area depending on engine version .
A WARNING ,...,___ -
Before you check anything in the engine
compartment, always read and heed all
WARNINGS
c::> page 210.
Engine oil
Engine oil specifications
The engine in your Audi needs the right kind
of oil.
The eng ine in your Audi is a sophisticated
power plant that was built to exacting specifi ­
cations . This engine needs the right kind of
engine oil that meets specifications regarding
quality and v iscosity so that it can run
II>-

218 Check ing and F illin g
• Add coolant mixed in the correct ratio
¢page 216 up to the upper marking.
• Make sure that the fluid level rema ins sta-
ble. Add more coolant if necessary.
• Clove the cap securely.
A coo lant loss suggests a leak. Immediately
drive your vehicle to an authorized repair fa­
cility and have the coolant system inspected.
If the coolant system is not leaking, a loss can
come from the coolant cooking through over­
heat ing and being pushed out of the coolant
system.
.8, WARNING
The cool ing system is under pressure and
can get very hot. Reduce the risk of scald­
ing from hot coolant by following these
steps .
- Do not open the coo lant expansion tank
cap with the engine hot . There is a risk of
burns.
- T urn off the engine and allow it to cool
down .
- Protect your face, hands and arms from
escaping fluid and steam by covering the
cap with a large, thick rag.
- T urn the cap slowly and ve ry carefu lly in
a counter-clockwise direction wh ile ap­
plying light, downward pressure on the
top of the cap.
- To avoid being b urned, do not spill anti­
freeze or coo lant on the exhaust system
or hot eng ine parts. Under certain condi­
t ions, the ethylene g lycol in engine cool­
ant can catch fire.
- The coo lant add itive and the coolant can
be dange rous to your hea lth. For th is
reason, keep the coolant in the or ig inal
conta iner away from children. There is a
risk of poisoning.
- Whe n work ing in the engine compart­
ment, remembe r that the radiator fan
can swit ch on even if the ignition is
switched off, wh ic h increases the risk of
persona l inju ry .
(D Note
Do not add coo lant if the expansion tank is
empty. Air cou ld enter the cooling system
and damage the engine. If this is the case,
do not continue dr iving. See your author­
i zed Audi dealer or qualified repair fac ility .
Radiator fan
The radiator fan switches on automatically by
itself
An a uxiliary electric radiator fan switches on
and off depending on coolant temperature
and other vehicle operat ing condit ions.
After you switch the engine off, the auxi liary
fan can continue running for up to 10 m inutes
- even w ith the ignition off.
It can even switch
on again later by itself¢.&. , if
- the temperature of the engine coo lant rises
due to the heat build- up from the engine in
the engine compartment, or
- the engine compartment heats up because
the vehicle is parked in intense sunlight.
.8, WARNING ,-
- To reduce the risk of personal injury nev-
er touch the radiator fan.
- The a uxiliary electric fan is temperat ure
controlled and can sw itch on suddenly
even when the engine is not ru nning.
- The auxiliary radiator fan sw itches on a u­
tomatically when the engine coo lant
reaches a certain temperature and will
continue to run until the coolant temper­
ature drops.

-Only when all tires on the vehicle are fi l­
led to the correct pressure, the tire pres­
sure monitoring system can work cor­ rect ly.
- The use of incorrect tire pressure values
can lead to accidents or other damage.
Therefore it is essential that the driver
observe the specif ied tire pressure values
for the tires and the co rrect p ress ures for
the f unction of t he tire pressure mo nitor­
ing system.
- Always inflate ti res to the recommended
and co rrec t tire pressu re befo re d rivi ng
off.
- Drivi ng with under inflated ti res bend
more, letti ng them get too ho t res ulting
in t read separation, sudden t ire fail ure
and loss of control.
- Excessive spee d and/ove rloading can
cause heat bui ld -up, sudden tire fa il u re
and loss of control.
- If the t ire pressure is too low or too high,
the tires w ill wea r prematurely and the
vehicle will not hand le we ll.
- If the t ire is no t flat and you do no t have
to change a w heel imme diate ly, drive at
reduced speed to the nearest service sta­
t ion to check the tire pressure and add
air as required.
(D Note
Driving without va lve stem caps ca n cause
damage to the t ire va lves. To prevent this,
always make s ure that facto ry installed
valve stem caps on all wheels a re secure ly
mounted on the va lve .
@) For the sake of the environment
Underinflated tires will a lso increase the
fue l consumption .
Tires and vehicle load limits
There are limits to the amount of load or
weight that any veh icle and any t ire can carry .
A vehicle that is ove rloaded w ill not ha ndle
well and is more difficult to stop . Overload ing
can no t on ly lead to loss o f vehicle con tro l,
Tire s an d wheel s 233
but can also damage important parts of the
vehicle and ca n lead to sud den tire fai lure, in ­
clud ing a b lowout and s udden def lation that
can cause the vehicle to cras h.
Your safety and that of your passengers also depends on making sure that load limits are
not exceeded . Vehicle load includes everybody
and everything in and on the veh icle. These
load lim its are technically referred to as the
vehicle's
Gross Vehicle We ight Rating
("GVWR ") .
The "GVWR" includes the weight of the basic
vehicle, all factory installed accessories, a full
tank of fuel, o il, coo lant and other fluids plus
maximum load . The max imum load includes
the number of passenge rs that th e vehicle is
i n tended to car ry ("seat ing capa city") wi th an
ass umed we igh t of 150 lbs (68 kg) fo r each
passenger at a designated seating posi tion
and t he tota l weight of any luggage i n the ve­
hicle . If you tow a trai ler, the weight of the
tra iler hitch and the tongue weight of the
loaded tra iler must be included as part of the
vehicle load.
T he
Gro ss Axle Weight Rating ("GAWR") is
the maximum load that can be applied at each
of the vehicle's two axles.
T he Gross Vehicle Weight Rating and the
G ross Axle Weig ht Rating are listed on the
safety comp liance sticker label located on the
driver's side B-pillar. Your Audi has 5 seat ing
pos itions, 2 in the front and 3 in the rea r for
total seating capacity of 5 . Each seating posi ­
t ion has a safety belt
~ page 131, Safety
belts.
The fact that there is an upper limit to your
vehicle's Gross Vehicle Weight Rating means
t h at the total weight of whatever is bei ng car­
ried in the vehicle ( in cl ud ing t he weight of a
t ra ile r hi tc h a nd the tongue we ight of t he
l o ad ed tr ailer) is lim ited. The more p assen­
gers in the vehicle or passengers who are
heavier than the standard weights assumed
mean that less weight can be carried as lug -
gage.
~
•
•
•

24 2 T ire s and wheel s
Where snow chains are mandatory oncer­
tain roads, this normally also applies to
veh icles with all-wheel dr ive.
Wheel bolts
Wheel bolts must always be tightened to the
correct torque.
The design o f whee l bolts is matched to the
factory installed rims . If different rims are fit­
ted, the correct wheel bolts with the right
length and correctly shaped bolt heads must
be used. This ensures that wheels are fitted
securely and that the brake system functions
correctly .
In certain circumstances, you may not use
wheel bolts from a different vehicle -even if it
is the same model
r=> page 270.
A WARNING
Improperly tightened or maintained wheel
bolts can become loose caus ing loss of
c ont ro l, a co llision and serious persona l in­
Jury .
- Always keep the wheel bolts and the
threads in the wheel hubs clea n so the
wheel bolts can turn easily and be prop­ er ly t igh tened .
- Never grease or oil the wheel bo lts and
the threads in the wheel hubs. They can
become loose while d riving if greased or
oiled, even if tightened to the specified
torque.
- Only use wheel bolts that belong to the
rim being installed.
- Never use different whee ls bolts on your
vehicle.
- Always maintain the co rrect tighten ing
torq ue fo r th e wheel bo lts to reduce the
risk of a wheel loss . If the tightening tor­
que of the wheel bo lts is too low, they
can loosen and come out w hen the veh i­
cle is moving. If the tighteni ng torque is
too high, the whee l bolts and threads can be damaged and the whee
l can be­
come loose.
@ Note
The specified torque for the whee l bolts is
90 ft lb (120 Nm) with a tolerance of± 7,4
ft lb(± 10 Nm) . Torque wheel bolts diago­
nally. After changing a whee l, the torque
must be checked as soon as possible with a
torque w rench -preferably by an author­
i zed Audi dealer or qualified workshop .
Low aspect ratio tires
Your Audi is factory-eq uipped w it h low aspect
ra tio tires. These tires have been tho roughly
tested and been se lected specifically fo r your
model for their superb perfo rmance, road fee l
and handling under a variety of d riving condi ­
t ions . Ask your author ized A udi dealer for
more details.
T he low aspect ratio of these tires is ind icated
by a numera l of
55 or less in the tire's s ize
designation. The n umera l represents the ratio
of the tire's sidewall height in relation to its
tread width expressed in percentage. Conven­
t iona l tires have a he ight/w idth ratio of 60 or
more .
The performance of low-aspect -ratio tires is
particularly sens iti ve to imp roper inflation
pressure. It is therefore important that low
a spect ratio tires are inflat ed to the specified
pre ssure and that the inflation pressure i s
regularly ch ecked and maintain ed. Tire pre s·
sure s should be checked at lea st once a
m onth and always bef ore a long trip
r=> page 231, Checking tire pressure .
What you can do to avoid tire and rim
damage
Low aspect ratio tires can be d amage d more
easily by impact w ith potholes, curbs, gull ies
or ridges on t he road, particularly if the tire is
u nd eri nflated.

246 What do I do now?
What do I do now?
Luggage compartment
lid emergency release
In case of an emergency , the rear lid can be
opened from the inside using the trunk es­
cape handle .
Fig. 162 Re ar lid op ening : access to th e e merg en cy re­
l ease
To reach the emergency release mechanism,
the rear bench seat backrest must be folded down
~ page 61 .
,. Push the latch upward in the direction of the
arrow until the lock releases .
The trunk escape handle inside the rear lid is
made of fluorescent material to glow in the
dark .
A WARNING
The trunk escape handle is to be used only
m an emergency .
@ Tips
The emergency release lever should never
be used as a handle for closing the rear lid.
General information
,. Park the vehicle as far as possible from mov­
ing traffic in the event of a flat tire. In the
event of a flat tire, park the vehicle on a lev ­
el surface .
It you are on a steep incline, be
especially careful.
,. Set the parking brake.
,. Switch the emergency flashers on.
• Put on a reflective vest, if available.
• Setup the warning triang le, if available . •
Have the passengers exit the vehicle. They
should move to a safe place, for examp le
behind a guard rail.
A WARNING
-
Pay attention to the steps above. They are
for your protection and the for the safety of other drivers.
A WARNING
Improper use of the vehicle jack can cause
serious personal injuries .
- Never use the screw driver hex head to tighten wheel bolts, since the bolts can­not attain the necessary tightening tor­
que if you use the hex head, potentially
causing an accident .
- The factory-supplied jack is intended on­
ly for your vehicle model. Under no cir­
cumstances should it be used to
lift
heavy vehicles or other loads; you risk in­
juring yourself.
- Never start the engine when the vehicle
is raised, which could cause an accident.
- Support the vehicle securely with appro­
priate stands if work is to be performed
underneath the vehicle; otherwise, there
is a potential risk for injury.
- Never use the jack supplied with your
Audi on another vehicle, particularly on a
heavier one. The jack is only suitable for
use on the veh icle it came with.
(D Tips
- Some of the onboard items listed above
are provided on certain models only or
are optional extras.
- Before storing the jack*, make sure it is
wound back down as far as it wil l go.

248 What do I do now?
-Do not drive faster than 50 mph (80 km/
h) . You risk having an acc ident.
- Avoid full-throttle acce le ration, heavy
braking, and fast corner ing. You risk hav­
ing an acc ident.
- Never drive us ing more than one spare
wheel and tire. You risk having an acci­
dent .
- Norma l summer or winter tires must not
be mounted on the compact spare whee l
rim.
- For technical reasons, the use o f ti re
chains on the spare tire is not permitted.
If it is necessary to drive with tire chains,
the spare whee l must be mounted on the
front axle in the eve nt of a flat in a rear
t ir e. Th e newly ava ilable front w heel
must the n be installed in pla ce of the
re ar wheel wi th the flat ti re. Ins tal ling
the ti re chai n befo re mo unt ing the wheel
and tire is recommen ded .
- L oose items in the p assenge r comp art ­
ment can ca use serio us personal inj ury
dur ing hard braking or in an acc ident.
N ever sto re the inf latable spare tire or
jack and t ools in the passenger c ompart­
me nt.
- No rma l summer or wi nte r tires must not
be m ounted on the compact spare wheel
rim .
Removing the subwoofer
App lies to vehicles: with subwoofer
The subwoofer must be removed before the
spare wheel* can be removed.
F ig . 166 Spare w hee l well : subwoofe r
Removing the subwoofer
.,. Lift the c argo floor i=:> page 247, fig . 16 4.
.. Press the connector tabs (!) i=:> fig. 16 6 to-
gether .
.. Re move the connector @and set the re-
moved cab le aside .
.,. Remove the bo lt @ .
.. Carefully remove the subwoofe r.
Installing the subwoofer
.. Carefully place the subwoofer n the rim
we ll. The word "FRONT" on the subwoofer
m ust face forward.
.. Insert the con nector that was removed.
.. Secure t he subwoofer w ith the bolt .
.. Fold the cargo floo r cover back into place.
Changing a wheel
· Before changing a wheel
O bserve the following prec au tions f or your
own and your p assenger's safety when chang ­
ing a wheel .
.. Afte r you ex perie nce a ti re fail ure, p ull the
car we ll away from mov ing tr affic and try to
reach level ground before you stop
¢ ,&.
.. All passengers should leave the car and
move to a safe location ( for instance, behind
the guardrail)¢ ,&.
.. Engage the parking brake to prevent your
veh icle from rolling unintentionally <=>,& .
.. Move selector lever to position Pi=:> ,& .
.. If you are towing a t railer, unhitch the trailer
from your ve hicl e.
.. Ta ke t he ja ck ¢
page 247 and the spare tire
¢ page 247 out of the luggage compart­
ment .
A WARNING
You o r you r passengers could be inj ured
while c hanging a w heel if you do not fo l­
l ow these safety precaut io ns:
- If you have a flat tire, move a safe d is­
tance off the road. Turn off t he engine,
tur n the eme rgency flashers on and use
other warni ng devices to a le rt other mo­
torists.
-

252 What do I do n ow ?
-Support the vehicle securely with ap ­
propriate stands if work is to be per ­
formed underneath the vehicle;
otherw ise, there is a potential risk for
in Jury .
- To help preven t injury to yourself and
your passengers:
- Do not raise the vehicle u nti l you a re
sure the jack is sec urely e ngaged .
- Passengers mus t not rema in in the ve­
h icle when it is jacked up .
- Ma ke sure that passengers wait in a
safe p lace away from the vehicle and
well away from the road and traffic.
- Make sure jack posi tion is co rrect, ad­
just as necess ary and then contin ue to
raise the jack .
- Changes in temperature or load can af­
fect the height of the vehicle .
0 Note
Do not lift the vehicle by the s ill. Pos ition
the vehicle ja ck only at the designated lift­
ing poi nts on the sill. Othe rwise, your vehi­
cle will be damaged .
Taking the wheel off/installing the spare
Follow these instructions s tep-by-step for
c hanging the wheel.
Fig . 172 Chang ing a w hee l: u sing th e screw driver ha n­
dl e (w it h th e bla de re mov ed) to t urn the bolts
Fig. 173 Ch ang ing a wheel : alignment p in in sid e th e
t op hole
After you have loos ened all wheel bo lts and
raised the vehicle off the ground, remove and
replace the wheel as follows :
Removing the wheel
.,. Use the hexagon al so cket in th e screwdri v­
er handle
to completely remove the top­
most whee l bolt and set it aside on a
clean
surfac e Q fig. 172 .
.,. Screw the threaded end of the al ignme nt
p in
from the tool k it hand-t ight into t he
empty bol t hole
Q fig . 173.
.,. Then remove the other wheel bolts as de ­
scr ibed above .
.,. Take off the whee l leaving the a lignment pin
in the bo lt ho le
Q (J) .
Putting on the comp act sp are wheel
.,. Lift the spare whee l and carefully slide it
over the alignment p in to guide it in place
Q (J) .
.,. Use the hexagonal socket i n the screwdriver
handle to screw in and tighten a ll whee l
bolts
slightly .
.,. Remove the alignment pin and insert and
tighten the rema ining whee l bolt slightly
like the rest .
.,. Turn the jack handle counter -clockwise to
lower the vehicle until the jack is fully re­
leased .
.,. Use the wheel bolt wrench to tighten all
wheel bo lts fi rmly
Q page 250 . Tighten
them
crosswise , from one bolt to the (ap­
proximately) opposite one, to keep the
wheel cente red.

(D Note
When removing or installing the wheel,
the rim could hit the bra ke rotor and dam­
age the rotor . W ork carefully and have a
second person help you.
N ever use the hexa gonal s ocket in the ha n­
d le of the screwdriver to loosen or t ighten
the wheel bolts .
- Pull the reversib le blade from the screw­
drive r before yo u use the hexagonal
socket in t he handle to t urn the whee l
bo lts .
- When mounting tires with
unid irectional
tread design
make s ure the tread pat­
te rn is poi nte d the r ight way
c:> pag e253 .
- The w heel bolts should be clea n and easy
to tu rn . Ch eck for dirt and corros ion on
the mat ing su rfaces of both the whee l
a nd th e hu b. Remove a ll dir t fro m these
s ur fa ces before remo unting the wheel.
Tires with unidirectional tread design
Tires with unidirectional tread design must be
mounted with their tread pattern poin ted in
t he right direction.
Using a spare tire with a tread pattern
intended for use in a specific direction
When using a sp are tire w ith a tr ead p atte rn
i ntended fo r u se in a specific direc tion, p lease
note t he following:
- T he di rection of rotation is ma rked by an a r­
r ow on the side o f the tire.
- If th e spare t i re has to be installed in the in­
c orrec t direction, use the spa re tire only
tem por ari ly si nce the t ire will no t be able to
ac hieve its op timum perfo rmance character­
ist ics with rega rd to aquaplani ng, noise and
wea r.
- We recommend that you pay particular at ­
tent io n to this fact du ring wet weat he r and
that you adjust your speed to matc h road
condit ions .
What do I do now? 253
-Replace the flat t ire with a new one and
have it installed on your vehicle as soon as
possible to restore the han dling advantages
of a un idirectional tire.
Notes on wheel changing
Please read the i nfo rmation c:> page 236, New
tires and replacing tires and wh eels
if you a re
go ing to use a spare tire wh ich is different
from the ti res on you r vehicle.
After you cha nge a tire :
-Check the tire pressure on the spare imme­
diately after installation .
- Have the wheel bolt tightening torque
checked with a torque wrench as soon as
possible by your authorized Audi dealer o r
a qualified service station.
- With steel and alloy wheel r ims, the wheel
bolts are correctly tightened at a torque of
90 ft lb (120 Nm ).
- If you notice that the wheel bolts are cor­
roded and diff icult to turn while changing
a tire, they should be replaced before you
check the tightening torque.
- Replace the flat tire w ith a new one and
have it installed on your vehicle as soon as
possible. Remount the whee l cover.
Until then , dr ive with e xtra care and at re­
duced speeds.
A WARNING
-
- I f you are going to e quip your ve hicle
wit h tires o r rims which differ from those
which were fac to ry inst alled, t hen be
s ure to read t he informa tion
c:> p age 2 36,
New tire s and repla cing tires a nd
wheels .
-Always make s ure th e d am age d wheel o r
eve n a fla t tire an d the jack an d too l ki t
are p rope rly secu red in the luggage com ­
pa rtment an d are not loose in the pas ­
senger compartment .
- In an accident or sudden maneuver they
co uld f ly forwa rd, inj uring a nyone in the
veh icle.
•
•
•